Internal-combustion engine



F. H. GILE.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. I

APPLICATION. FILED MAR. 2.3, 1915- Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

LK nl F. H. GILE. i INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1916. Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

F. H. GILE.y INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION. FILED. MAR- 23, 1916..

Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

3, SHEETS-SIIEET 3,.4

tively large number ofjflutes Yso as thor- 'UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.4

FRED HENRY GILE, 0E CLIETONDALE, MASSACHUSETTS,-AssIeNon, BY MESNE assiett-` 41vrE1vTs,fro GEORGEK. WoonwoRTH, TRUSTEE, or BnooKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Y INTERNAL-CMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Lttersatent.

Patented Mar. 30, 19720.v

Original application led April 5, 191-5, Serial No. 19,265.v Divided and this application filed March 23, 1916. Serial No. 86,271.

To all 'whom t may concern.' y

Be it known that I, FRED HENRY GILE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cliftondale, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Internal-CombustionEngines, of whiclrthe following is a specification. f

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and more especiallyl to lubricators for the rubbing surfaces between the cylinderr and piston head.

An illustrative embodiment of my inven-V tion .is shown in the accompanying drawings in Ywhichu Y Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section, certain parts being shown in elevation, of an internal combustion engine having a piston-rod constructed to cooperate with my improved lubricator. F ig. 2 a side view of said engine with my lubricator appliedy thereto. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of said lubricator, et is a plan view of the cylinder shown in Fig. 1 with the cylinder-head removed vand illustratingthe oil ducts in the piston headj .In the particular drawings selected for more fully disclosing my invention, 1 represents a frame having a horizontal crankshaft 2 suitably journaled therein and supporting the cylinder 3, .the ends .ofwhich in the present instance are providedv with a number of parallel fuel passages or flutes d, e arrangedlengthwise in its bore and communicating with and extending intothe combustion chambers A A respectively. TWhile I do not limit myself to the number of fhites that may 'be employed ;I have found that from sixteen to twenty give good results. No hard and fast rule can be given as to the number ofthe flutes that will give the best results under all conditions of operation. They .are not merepassageways or channels from the space.betweenA the pis' tons to the combustionk chamber 5 but on the contrary they serveA the additional function hereinafter more fully set forth of Veffecting a perfect orfsubstantially perfect mixing of the charge of fuel and air. Their number depends in a way upon the volume of the cylinder and their total cross sectional areadepends" upon Vthe cross sectional area of tlieintalre port. There must be a relation .to the arm "of the bcll-crank lwith which ougly to subdivide the charge and effect the complete mixing of the same. The total cross sectional area of the flutes must be such, due regard being hadv to the cubical contents of the cylinder and the cross sectional a'rea of the intake port, that they will impose sufficient .restraint to the passage of the gas therethrough esito enable the latter to acquire a relatively high velocity during such passage. Arranged to lreciprocate with-in the cylinder is a hollow piston or sub-piston consisting of two heads 5 5y rigidly connected by therods G herein shown as three in number, and the lower head is connected to or integral with the hollow piston-rod or sleeve 7, which in turn is secured to the cross-head 8 guided in the ways 9 on the engine frame. Arranged to reciprecate` within the cylinder and within the hollow piston is a plunger or power-piston 10.connected to or integral with the pistonrod 11 which passes axially through the lower head of the subpiston'and the'hollow, piston-rod 7, and is secured at its lower end to the cross-head l2 guided by the ways 9. The pitman 13 connects the cross-head 12` with the crank 14 to transmit the power' de` veloped in the cylinder to the main crank-` shaft. c x ,Y

Pivotally connected to the studs l5 ary ranged on opposite sides of the cross-head S are the connecting rods 1G, one on `either "side'ofy the lpitman 13, and said `connecting rods engage the arms 17 which .are rigidly connected with the rock-shaft 18 `jour1nled in the lengi-ne frame,'said arms being arranged on opposite sides of said pitma lntegral with or rigidly connected to one of the arms `17 is a shorter arnil to which is pivotedfa connecting rod. 19 engaging the outer' end of the bell-crank 20*- pivotally.connected'to the frame at 21.

The two* arms of the liell-crank` are bifurcated and the rolls 22, 23 are journaled between the forks of the 'upper andlower` arms respectively., The cams 24, 25, rotating with the'niain shaft engage the rolls 22, Q3, respectively; Either one of the twoy cams isV cut to communicate 4the proper mo*- it' coperates, and then the other cani is soles cut that thel two rolls are always heidv posi; tivelyV in contact.withV their respective cams,

thereby eliminating the necessity for the usual spring arrangement employed to maintain film Contact between a cam and its follower. t

The cylinder is provided with exhaust 5 passages 26, 26 controlled by the inwardlyopening valves 27, 27 normally held on their respective seats by the springs 28, 28 which surround the valve stems and have their ends bearing against the outer Walls of the exhaust passages and the collars 29, 29 on the valve stems. Coperating with the ports in the cylinder-head extensions 30 are the outwardly-opening automatic check-valves 31, 31', each held on its seat by the relatively light springs 32, 32 interposed between the collars 29, 29 and the ends of their hollow stems 33, 33, which, as shown, are guided in the bosses 34, 34.

It will be understood of course that the exhaust valves may be operated by any suitable mechanism and in the present case I have illustrated a simple form of valve gearing comprisingcontinuously rotating cams operatively-connected with the power shaft. The tappet 35 secured to the rock-shaft`36 strikes the lower4 end of the stem of the valve 27, thereby forcing the same upwardlyv 35 41 directly behind the cam 40. The valve 27 is raised from its seat at the proper times by said cam 40, which cooperates with the collar on the lower end of a short shifting rod which engages the lower end of its valve stem. It will be understood of course that the valves-are closed by their respective springs 28,28 as soon as the cams pass their coperating elements.

The cross-shaft 41 to which said cams Yare secured may be connected with the power shaft by any suitable means, for example, by the shaft 60, having bearings at v61 and Y the gears 62, 63.

The fuel inlet 42 located substantially midway between the two ends of the cylinder is connected by a pipe 42 to any suitable source of fuel.y

For lubricating the cylinder I prefer the*V pump shown in Fig. 3, which communicates with the longitudinal duct 43 passing through the piston-rod 11 and intersecting the transverse ducts 44 in the power-piston, said transverse ducts being shown herein as threeV in number and intersecting the bores inthe power-piston through which the rods 6 pass. 'Ihe pump is supported by the bracket 45 which is connected to the cross-head 12 and comprises a barrel 46 carrying a plunger 47, the head 48 of which normally held inV re- VV tracted position by the surrounding spiral spring 49 is arranged to strike the adjustable stop 50 during the reciprocation of said cross-head. r1`he tube 51 connects the bottom of a chamber 52 with the lower portion of the pump barrel and a tube 53 communi- 70 cates between said chamber and the duct A43 in the piston-rod. A tube 54 connects the bottom of the barrel with the bottom of the lower member of a pair of telescoping tubes 55, 56, the upper member of which is connected by the pipe 57 to a source of lubricating oil. Valves of-anysuitable type, herein shown as gravity-actuated ball-valves 58, 59, normallyclose the lower ends of the pump barrel v'53 and the chamber 52 respec- 30 tively. Y

It willbe understood of course thattheV foregoingdetailed description comprises various elements which in the precise form shown in the drawings and described herein g5 are not essential to my invention and that these parts may be considered simply as typical of the necessary elements of an internal combustion engine.

By means of flutes or fuel passages 4, 4 90 I am enabled to secure an intimate and practically perfect mixture of the fuel thereby insuring complete combustion of said charge on ignition.

As the power-piston approaches the head ofthe hollow `piston the charge which is contained in the space between these two elements is compressed and forced by such compression around the advancing head of the hollow piston through the flutes lor fuel passages and is shot with great force against a solid body, which in the present instance is the cylinder-head, in a number of relatively small streams, the number of said streams being sulliciently large to effect such a thorough, intimate and complete mixing of the charge that substantially complete combustion of the same in the cylinder will result on ignition.

An explosion of the compressedfcharge in either combustion chamber acts directly on one of the heads of the sub-piston and by the latter is communicated tothe Vpowerpiston with which such head is then in contact as shown-in Fig. 1. It is absolutely necessary that the two pistons shall travel at the same rate of speed without the slightest relative movement until the hollow piston, or sub-piston, shall' have covered the inner ends of the adjacent set of flutesand it is essential that the subsequent relative movement between the pistons be created positively and that the sub-piston be controlled positively as distinguished from the construction shown in my prior Letters Patent No; 735,964, issued August 11, 1903,- which has a flying piston somewhat similar in form' to the hollow pistonV of the present invention but not controlled positively nor arranged for positive relative movement with respect to thepower-piston; and it is highly desirable that they shall remain in contact until the end of the power-stroke of the sub-piston or during a substantial portion of such power-stroke.

It will be obvious that the means governing the movement of the hollow piston must be carefully designed to prevent any relative movement with respect to the powerpiston until the hollow piston shall nearly have reached the end of its stroke, and particularly until the trailingl head of the hollow piston shall have covered the inner ends of the adjacent set of flutes. The reason for this willbe obvious from an inspection of Fig. l in which the parts are shown in the position occupied immediately prior to ignition in the combustion chamber A. Should the power-piston begin to move away from the upper .head 5 of the subpiston before the latter covers the inner ends of the flutes 4, a portion of the effect of the explosion will be exerted against the lower face of said head 5 in opposition to the force exerted on the upper face thereof.

The hollow 'piston is governed or wntrolledr throughout the entire cycle by the cams 24, 25, which as above described, operate the bell-crank 20 and` the latter is connected through the motion-reducing connection 17, 1'?"` with the cross-head 8. The cams are so designed and are so related to the crank 14 that both pistons vtravel in the v same direction, for example, downwardly having referenceto Fig. 1, at the same initial rate of speed and without relative motion until the lower head 5V of the hollow piston nearly reaches the bottom of the cylinder, then while the power piston is continuing itsdescent, the sub-piston is, slightly recalled until th-e upper face of its lower head 5 is a little below the inner ends of the flutes 4, in which position the cam surfaces 'are concentric with the power-shaft and consequently the sub-piston is held stationary until the powerpiston reaches the end of its stroke.

While it will be understood that the sev'- eral moving parts may be variously adjusted and-timed, I prefer such adjustment and timing as will produce the following cycle.

lVhen both pistons are at theupper end of their strokes, the upper head 5 yof the subpi'ston being in. contact with the power piston, as shown in Fig. 1, and the charge compressed in the combustion chamber A, the valve 27 being closed and the valve 27 open or about to open, the charge is fired and the resulting explosion causes both pistons'to descend at fthe saine rate of speed and without any relative movement until the sub piston nearly reaches the bottom of the cylinder driving the burnt gases of the preceding eX- plosion out of the combustion chamber A and through the exhaust passage 26.

lower face of its upper head 5 slightly above the fuel inlet 42, in which position it rermains stationary until driven upwardlyl by the next explosion in the combustion chamber A.

The power-piston 10 continues its descent and, after uncovering the fuel-inlet 42, creates a partial vacuum within the trailing end of the hollow or sub-piston and draws a charge of fuel through said inlet into the space betweenl its upper face and the lower face of the upper head 5 of said hollow piston. At the same time the plunger or power-piston 10 compresses the charge in the advancing end of the hollow piston, e., in the space between its lower face andthe upper face of the lower head 5 of said hollow piston, a charge of fuel having been drawn into sai-d space on the preceding upstroke of the pistons, and a portion of this charge so compressed by said plunger passes through the flutes 4 into the combustion chamber A', thereby completing the scavenging of the latter.

he valve 27 now closes and the power piston continues its downward stroke further compressing the charge and driving the same with great force through the flutes 4 into the combustion chamber IA thereby shooting the charge against the cylinderhead in a' plurality of relatively small streams.

The compressed charge is now exploded and both pistons driven upwardly, the valve 27 opening prior to the explosion. Both pis# tous rise at the same rate of speed until the upper head 5 of the sub-piston nearly reaches the top of the cylinder, scavenging the combustion chamber' A through the exhaust passage 26. The sub-piston is then recalled until the lower face of the upper' head 5 is slightly above the inner ends 'of' the flutes 4 and the upper face of its lower head ris` slightly below the fuel inlet 42 whereupon it remains stationary until driven downwardly by the next explosion in the combustion chamber A.

The power piston continuing its ascent `draws'a charge of fuel from the inlet 42 into the trailing end'of vthe hollow piston,

z'. e., the space between its own lower face and the upper face of the lower head 5', and compresses the charge in theiadvancing end of :said hollow piston, i. c., the space `between its own upper faceand the lower face ofthe upper head '5. The scavengingy of the com-V bustion chamber A is completed by a portion of the compressed charge passing thereV into by way of the flutes 4, whereupon the valve 27 is closed and the continued upward stroke of the power-piston drives the rest Y of the fuel Vcharge through said flutes into said combustion chamber and completes the compression thereof.

. Ignition then occurs again and thev cycle is repeated, there being one explosion at each endl of every stroke or two perrevolution of the 'crank-shaft.' v

'.In the foregoing description of the cycle no reference has been made to the outwardly-opening check valves 31, 31, which are removably held on their respective seats bythe relatively light springs 32, 32, but it will readily be understood by inspection of. VI1`ig.1,that every time' one of the exhaustA valves 27, 27 is opened mechanically, the pressure of the exhaust gas will open the coperating check-valve.

When one of the heads of the hollow piston uncovers the utes in either end of the f cylinder, the space between such vhead of haustV or the outside air fromv being drawnthrough Vthe combustion chamberV into this space by wayl of the flutes. I have found that such automatic check-valves greatly increase the eiiiciency of the engine.

During the upstrolre of the cross-head12, the plunger 47 of the oil pump will cause a quantity of oil to be forced through the tube 51 into the chamber 52 and thence by way of the tube 53 `and duct 43 to the transverse ducts 44 `in the power-piston head, thereby spreading on 'the interior wall of the cylinder 3 a coating of oilthat has notbeen injured by the fire of the exploding charge, and at Vthe same time the rods 6 are thoroughly lubricated to facilitate their passage through the power-piston. At every downstroke yof the ,power-piston the bracket 45 carries the lubricating pump downwardly and the spring 49 by retracting the plunger 47 fromv the lower end of the pump barrel causesa` fresh charge of oil to-be drawn from the source connected to the pipe 57 through the telescopicfpipes 55, 5,6 and thence into the pump barrel.

. .This application is a division of my application `Serial No. 19,265, filed April 5,1915.

Y zHaving 4thus described an'illustrative emi-n and provided with an interior transverse lduct extending to its periphery, a piston-rod connected to said piston and provided with a longitudinal duct communicating with the transverse duct insaid piston,` across-head v connected to saidv piston rod, an oil pump carried by said cross-head for forcing a lubricating iuid through said ducts, a tube carried by said cross-head and communicating with said oil pump, a stationarytube l fixed to the engine frame and having telescopic connection with the first .mentioned tube,fand a connection from said stationary tube to a source of oil supply.`

2. In'an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a sub-pistonwithin said cylinder, means for controlling 'said sub-piston, a plunger within said sub-piston, said plunger being provided with an interior-transverse duct extending to its periphery, a piston-rod connected to said plunger andprovided with a longitudinal duct communicating with the transverse duct in said plunger, rods secured to said sub-piston and connected to the subpiston control means, said rods passing through bores in said plunger and said bores intersecting said transverse duct, yand means for forcing a lubricating Huid through said ducts.

3. In an internal combustion engine, a

cylinder, a power piston and a sub-piston arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder,V said sub-piston being located between said power piston and the combustion chamber, means for controlling said sub-piston,said power piston being provided with an interior transverse duct extending to its periphery, a piston rod connected to said power piston and provided with a longitudinal duct communicating with the transverse duct in said power piston, rods secured to said subpiston and connected to the sub-piston control means, said rods passing through bores in'said power piston and said bores intersecting' said transverse duct, andk means for forcing a lubricating fluid .throughV said ducts.

' In rtestimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 16th day of March, 1916. 'l

Y FRED HENRY GILE. Witnesses: Y

Gmo. K. WooDwoizTH, E. B. ToMLINsoN. 

